Antique 14K Gold Lionhead Stickpin with 3 Diamonds - Appraisal Inquiry
Question
STICKPIN
HELLO,
THIS IS A REALLY NEAT STICKPIN I GOT FROM A FRIEND WHO'S MOTHER PASSED AWAY. I TOOK IT TO MY LOCAL JEWELER, WHO QUICKLY LOOKED AT IT AND INFORMED ME THAT IT IS GOLD AND ALL THREE DIAMONDS ARE REAL. HE DOES NOT DO APPRAISALS BUT INFORMED ME THAT DUE TO THE STAMPING DATE, IT COULD BE VERY VALUABLE. IT IS STAMPED IN THE BACK OF THE LIONS HEAD: MAY 27 1902, 14K. HE HAS NO IDEA WHO THE MANUFACTURER WAS SINCE HE DOES NOT DEAL IN ANTIQUE JEWELRY. I'M WONDERING IF THERE IS A WAY TO FIND OUT IT'S MAKER AND LIKE HE SAID IT COULD BE MORE VALUABLE THAN JUST THE WEIGHT OF THE GOLD AND DIAMONDS ITSELF. THE PIN LENGTH IS 2 3/8 INCH LONG, THE HEAD IS 3/4 X 1/2 INCH.
AnswerHello Anna. You have a lovely stickpin and my advice to you would be to have it appraised by an estate jewelry appraiser. Your local museum or antique shop should be able to refer you to someone. They may be able to recognize the "style" of the item and also test the quality of the diamonds. It appears to have excellent workmanship and since stickpins were so small, they sometimes were not marked except for the gold or silver content and some not even then. There are sites online that will appraise from a good picture which you do have. Below is an article with some suggestions that may help you decide. Just copy and paste it into your browser address field and hit enter. Enjoy your stickpin !
http://phoenix.about.com/od/shoppingandservices/a/jewelry.htm
